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Special Delivery
Special Delivery is the 96th arc in Housepets!. This arc ended Bailey's pregnancy and introduced King's pups. Characters *Bailey *King **Olive **Ace **Rook *Vet *The Wolves Pack **Lucretia **Elaine **"Four Finger Discount" Jack **Rockstar Hawk **"Darth Vader Sanchez" **North Star **Lucretia/Elaine's Mother **Daryl **Other Daryl **Cousin Rodney **Miles Plot Bailey wakes up in the middle of the night while staying at the Wolf House and heads down the hall. She finds Lucretia cooking in the kitchen, where she is getting a head start on Thanksgiving. Bailey mentions it's the middle of August, but Lucretia tells her that there is no such thing as too much preparation when feeding the Wolves Pack. As Lucretia hands Bailey a glass of water, the husky confides that she and King are probably going to have to move back into Bill's house with the arrival of the puppies. Lucretia tells her their room is as big as their old den, but Bailey tells her she's from Kansas, and needs more space, since living at the Wolf House feels like a perpetual family reunion. As Lucretia comforts her, Bailey suddenly drops the glass on the floor. Lucretia comments that she "broke her water," which Bailey confirms with sudden realization. As Elaine is preparing to deliver the puppies, Jack asks why they have to use his bed for it. Elaine tells him to keep guard to make sure nobody gets in. Darth Vader Sanchez and Rockstar Hawk come by and ask Jack what's going on. He tries to refute it as "girl stuff," but when the cubs insist that they aren't "cubs" anymore, he resolves to tell them. Elaine tells her mother to go back to bed, as she can handle the delivery. The elderly wolf claims she has never missed the birth of one of the pack, and intends to stay. Bailey tells her that even though she's considered an honorary wolf, she's still a dog that happens to live with the pack. The mother wolf says that diversity makes the pack strong, which is why she allowed Elaine to marry someone like Jack. Elaine retorts that she had eloped with Jack and didn't return home for two years, giving Bailey further "family reunion" vibes. As more of the pack gathers into the room to witness the birth and with Cousin Rodney bringing in towels, Bailey calls out to see King. However, since nobody has alerted him yet, he is still fast asleep in their room. Daryl and Other Daryl arrive to wake King up. At first he doesn't respond to their nudging until he is jolted awake by a sudden nose prod. Daryl tells him Bailey told them to wake him up gently, but King snaps that noses there don't count as gentle. King meets Bailey in the bedroom, reminding her that they wanted a vet birth. Bailey responds that they had already gotten started, so King tells her he rang up the vet to give her a once over. Elaine remarks that King called a vet to the Wolf House, whereupon Jack asks who ordered the "well-marbled delivery guy." Miles tells him to stop scaring solicitors. The vet comes into the room, telling Elaine to stand aside. Elaine argues that she's the midwife. The vet asks her if she's taken Bailey's temperature, measured contraction length, or checked for dilation, all of which Elaine hasn't. The vet asks her if she knows anything about what goes into a birth, but Elaine responds "that's not important right now." The vet asks the pack to leave, but Elaine argues that they are family. King tells the vet that he didn't call him to perform the birth, he just wanted him to give his medical opinion on Bailey's health. The vet says that Bailey's health concerns her and her owner. King informs him that he is her husband, but the vet merely states he worries for families that spoil pets to that degree. As the vet checks Bailey for health conditions, Elaine asks him what he is talking about. When the vet mentions if she can see signs of ailments such as "milk fever," Elaine goes off and tells him that she knows the cure for milk fever is milk-and-marrow soup, and that she's observed Bailey's diet (which she is all but stocked on dairy). When the vet asks Elaine if she knows if Bailey has a history of PTH deficiency she yells at him to stop talking "moonspeak." King politely thanks the vet for his services, but asks that he leave the birth up to Elaine. The vet argues that King should have the person with the most experience monitoring the situation; Elaine has only done two while he has done sixty. He tells her to find someone with more experience, whereupon Elaine's mother grabs the vet and lifts him over her head, carrying him out of the room. The vet merely asks them to grab his bag on the way out. Elaine tells King that she understands his worry and that Bailey will be fine. Bailey then gets a sudden contraction, describing the feeling as "someone headbutting you in the stomach kinda hard and almost giving you the hiccups." King informs her she has no idea how many human mothers she has made jealous. Finally Elaine delivers the puppies, two girls and a boy. King, with tears in his eyes, proudly names the first one Olive, the second one Ace, and the last one Rook. Elaine makes a joke about squeezing Bailey to make sure they're "all out" and King faints. As the months pass, King becomes one with his new family. At Christmas, Elaine and Jack give King a gift, but he happily replies he received the best present already as he sits with Bailey and his pups. Elaine notes that while sappy, it's what the holiday is for, while Jack complains they spent real ''money on the gift. Events *Bailey gives birth to three puppies; two girls and a boy, whom King names Olive, Ace and Rook. Trivia *Lucretia getting ready for Thanksgiving in August is an inside-joke referencing the fact that the strip was posted on the day after the holiday. *Lucretia (and Elaine's) Mother has her first speaking role since she was introduced, making Uncle Deadeye the only member of the pack without a speaking role. *Jack's line involving the "well marbled delivery guy" was previously used in To Serve Pizza, Man. *Each of King's puppies are related to his name. **Olive branches were traditionally worn by royals in ancient times and are a symbol of peace. ***Possibly coincidental, but '''Olive'r King was a bishop, which is also a chess piece. **Ace is the highest card in a deck, and the second highest card is the king. **Rooks are pieces in the game of chess, and King is named after the main piece of the game. *This is the third arc to be centered around King to be posted during Christmas, following It's A Wonderful Dog's Life and The Unbearable Lightness Of Being A Dog. **It's also interesting to note that this arc features 13 comics, which is the same number as It's A Wonderful Dog's Life, the arc where Joel was turned into King. Category:Story Arcs Category:Comics Category:2015 Category:The Wolves Pack Category:King Saga Category:Christmas